Excerpt from the Draft Opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of ACTA

2.Notes that counterfeiting, copyright and trademark infringements are covered by ACTA thus creating a one-size-fits-all instrument of enforcement which doesn't meet the unique needs of each sector; is concerned by the lack of definition of key terminologies on which the ACTA enforcement mechanisms are based; fears that this creates legal uncertainty for European companies and in particular SMEs, technology users, online platform and internet service providers.

Excerpt from the Draft
Opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
on the compatibility of ACTA between the European Union and its Member
States, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United
Mexican States, the Kingdom of Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of
Singapore, the Swiss Confederation and the United States of America with
the rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union

In this sense, your Rapporteur believes that ACTA comes at a very premature stage and a possible adoption of the Treaty would essentially freeze the possibility of having a public deliberation that is worthy of our democratic heritage. Against such a monumental challenge, what we absolutely need is that every expert we have, every affected organisation or institution we can spare, every citizen that desires to voice an opinion participates, from the beginning, in the creation of a modern social pact, a modern regime of protecting intellectual property rights. ACTA is not, and was not conceived to be, this. Instead, the Rapporteur believes that an adoption of ACTA would prematurely strangle the debate and tip the balance on one side, would allow for Member States to experiment on laws that could potentially harm fundamental freedoms and set precedents that could be undesirable for future societies.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), an independent supervisory authority devoted to protecting personal data and privacy, warned against the impact of ACTA on fundamental rights and particular the rights to privacy and data protection in an opinion presented on April 24, 2012.

69. Many of the measures envisaged in the Agreement in the context of enforcement of IP rights in the digital environment would involve the monitoring of users' behaviour and of their electronic communications on the Internet. These measures are highly intrusive to the private sphere of individuals and, if not implemented properly, may therefore interfere with their rights and freedoms to, inter alia, privacy, data protection and the confidentiality of their communications.

On April 12, 2012, the European Parliament ACTA Rapporteur, David Martin, released a draft recommendation to the EU Parliament that he had officially submitted to the EU International Trade Committee (INTA). The recommendation expressed strong concerns regarding ACTA's ambiguities and urged the EU Parliament not to consent to ACTA.

Unintended consequences of the ACTA text is a serious concern. On individual criminalisation, the definition of “commercial-scale”, the role of internet service providers and the possible interruption of the transit of generic medicines, your rapporteur maintains doubts that the ACTA text is as precise as is necessary.

The intended benefits of this international agreement are far outweighed by the potential threats to civil liberties. Given the vagueness of certain aspects of the text and the uncertainty over its interpretation, the European Parliament cannot guarantee adequate protection for citizens' rights in the future under ACTA.

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